Revenue up at HKIA, 'cautiously optimistic' on cargo

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Officials at Airport Authority Hong Kong, the governing body of Hong Kong International Airport, saw revenue rise 8 percent for the first six months of fiscal year 2012-2013, according to a company press release.
Cargo volume, which ended the period at 2 million tons, grew by 2.1 percent when compared to the first six months of 2011.
Although cargo experienced growth, passenger and aircraft-movement results outpaced freight, ending the period up 3.8 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. AAHK’s Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui Hon-chung chose to focus on these larger numbers when explaining the overall results.
“The rise in revenue and profit was attributed to the growth of passenger traffic and aircraft movements,” he said in a statement, adding the airport’s cargo sector had performed well. “Cargo throughput rebounded despite the persistently challenging economic situations in Europe and the U.S."
Officials expect the growth in passenger and movements to continue, albeit at a moderate pace, but cargo is more of an unknown. Regardless, Hon-chung said he is “cautiously optimistic” about cargo’s performance for the rest of the year.
Although the current results are certainly good news, William Lo Chi-chung, executive director of finance, expressed a bit of restraint. “We are pleased with the financial performance for the first six months," he said in a statement. "However, the 2012/2013 full-year performance might be affected by increases in expenditure to refurbish existing facilities and develop growth plans in order to sustain service levels and increase handling capacity. Slower growth in retail revenue, a trend that has started to emerge in recent months, is also likely to have an impact on this year's performance.” - Jon Ross